Happy Birthday Brady!!!

Today is Brady's 4th birthday.

I cannot believe that he is 4. I can't even imagine my life without him, I am just surprised how fast he is growing up!

From the moment that we knew he was coming, there was a lot of excitement, because we had to wait so long to have him. He has been an instant joy to our family and we feel blessed that he chose us as his family!

I look back on his life and I amazed by him daily. He is turning into a sweet little boy and a wonderful big brother. He is so excited to have another baby in the house and he talks to Baby Rocco everyday. He says, "Baby Rocco, it is your big brother Brady here. . . " and waits until the baby says hello by kicking me. He is learning to be sweeter with Leilani and has loved her from the moment he met her. He is quick to apologize and give love to her, which gives me hope as a mother that they will be kind and sweet to each other.

This past year has been a lot of adjustments for him and he has done well. He started primary and is starting to learn the gospel. A month or so ago he taught our Family Home Evening lesson and taught us about the crucifixion and resurrection. He knows the basics, which is wonderful to see him soak in all of the things that we have been trying to teach him.

He also has been doing very well in school. Over the summer he started writing his name by himself. He is interested in words now, so I tell him the letters and then he will spell it. We are definitely going in the right direction.

I love this little boy! He is such a pleasure and definitely keeps me going! He is the energizer bunny from the moment he wakes up until the moment he sleeps . . . which thankfully still involves a nap, most days!

Okay Brady, Happy Birthday to you!!! You are loved and adored and thank you for being the darling little boy that you are! I can't wait to see what the next year brings . . .

Here are some pictures over his lifetime.

Brady on his birthday, December 18, 2004

Brady about 3 months old.

Our little gentleman! About 9 months old.

Brady 1 year old.

Brady 2 years old.

Big brother Brady, "She's mine!" Leilani's birth, April 18, 2007.

Brady, almost 3, getting ready for his hiking adventure!

Brady, Thanksgiving 2008, almost 4.

A Surprise Guest

Last week at school, we had a surprise guest visit our class.

There were some ringing of bells. . . yes, it was Good St. Nick!

I have been nervous about this, because the kids haven't been so excited about strange people, dressed in strange costumes. Disneyland was not a great place for Brady, back in February so I didn't think that he would like him.

For the first time, ever, Brady willingly stood in line to sit upon Santa's lap to tell him what he wants for Christmas.

Before our guest arrived the newspaper was there, yes, we do have a small newspaper in our little town! They interviewed the kids and one of the questions asked was, "How does Santa get into your house?" Brady said, "My dad says he has a special key." Since we don't have a chimney we need to be creative for him.

Brady is thinking hard about what he wants for Christmas.

Here are some of the kids with Santa.

Leilani was absolutely not going to have anything to do with the guy in the red suit. She held on for dear life and would start to shake if you got too close. There is no need to scare her to death, we didn't with Brady and now he seems to be okay, so hopefully this will be the same for Leilani.

Even though she didn't sit upon his lap, she got a stocking and she liked that!

On a completely different note, last night Leilani went potty by herself! I don't have a picture, which is fine with me but I thought I would share my news. She has been showing signs of wanting too, so last night we sat her on our little one and she did! I need to actually do it, it is just hard to get up the energy to do this again, but it would be worth it if she wants too. She is almost 20 months, so we shall see!

Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Brady's 4th birthday! I cannot believe that he is going to be 4, I kept thinking, "We only need 3 candles." Nope, we needed 4! Wow, he sure is growing up fast.

We had a fun day filled with lots of friends and even more sugar! Great!
We have always have had a big BBQ with a lot of friends, but this year we decided to just have a kids party. This was a lot of fun and a lot less stress!
Here are some pictures from the party. We made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, which the kids loved and then we did the basic cupcakes and presents.
Nice fun day and pretty good weather that the kids were able to soak up some vitamin D.

Gotta love the southwest!

The kids making their gingerbread houses.

Leilani chillin in her swing.

Some of the kids having fun in the backyard. That is quite the train!

Brady with his cupcake.

Brady blowing out his candles.

Leilani's gingerbread house.

Brady's gingerbread house.

Has it been that long?

I was looking at my blog and yes, I have known, but it sure has been awhile since I last posted.
I don't have any updated pictures, I am sure there will be more soon.

Life has been crazy, as I am sure everybody's is around this time of year. I am just trying to get through all of the stuff that I am doing.

I have been trying to finish Brady's Mickey Mouse apron for Christmas, and after buying the material back in the summer, it is finally almost done. I just have to sew on the pockets and ties and then we will be finished! Just in time.

I am also scrapbooking both Leilani and Brady's scrapbook. I haven't made books for either of them so this has been a huge undertaking. I figure if I have some for both they will be happy.

Then the easy project is making a tie blanket for Leilani and her doll. I haven't started this but I know I can do it in an hour or so with matching pillow.

Along with all of this I have been crazy busy with Young Women's and all of their activities and trying to fit in some service for the holidays for them.

Okay, so this has been my life. I am trying to keep myself not too busy so I can keep my blood pressure down. It has a tendency to go up in my last trimester so the doctor has put me on medication and that has kept it down. We don't want a premature baby. We are doing well other then the other aches and pains that come around this time. Baby moves like crazy and it is fun to see Brady with the "baby." He wants to talk to the baby everyday and puts his ear on my belly and talks until the baby says hello through a little kicking. It is neat and I love that.

Well enough with the novel. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are ready for Christmas. It sure is a wonderful time to count our blessings and celebrate the birth of our Savior.

All Hallows Eve

I feel like we have been celebrating Halloween all week. Brady went to two Halloween parties. We had a party at his school on Monday and then later that day he went to a friend's party. We carved a pumpkin to add to our family of painted pumpkins on Tuesday. So it wasn't all week but Brady sure did know what was going on and could hardly wait for the sun to set on Friday. He was ready from the moment he woke up and it was slightly cloudy. He said, "Mom the sun isn't coming up so can we go?." He isn't used to that, but we did wait. Poor guy.

Brady was dressed as Super Why from the PBS show Super Why. For those that don't know the show, he has the power to read. It is a cute show if you ever want something that isn't too annoying to watch and it really reiterates reading and letters.

Leilani was dressed as Princess Presto, who has the power to spell.

We had a great night trick-or-treating around our little neighborhood. We hit only the houses we knew, which meant not too much candy for the kids.

There is a family in our ward who every year has a bonfire and serves chili, donuts and hot chocolate. We went there after we were done gathering our candy and it was a lot of fun. The kids ran around and we got to socialize with our friends.
It was a fun night and the next day Leilani brought me her costume wanting to wear it again. She learned fast how to get candy and she loved her dress with cape on the back.

5 Things

Okay, Kate here is your tag! This is from my cousin, who tagged me a couple of weeks ago and life gets crazy, so here goes, just what you wanted to learn all about me! J/K!


5 Shows I watch


1- Survivor
2- Project Runway
3- Heroes
4- Chuck
5- The Amazing Race

5 Restaurants

1- Cafe Rio
2- Sweet Tomatoes
3- Olive Garden
4- L&L Hawaiian BBQ
5- Garduno's

5 Things that happened yesterday

1- I went Visiting Teaching, it's about time I did!
2- Diaper day, washed my diapers.
3- Laundry, laundry and more laundry!!!
4- Went skeet shooting with the laurels/priests
5- Enjoyed my family on a Wednesday night, which never happens anymore.

5 Things to look forward to

1- Meeting this new baby growing inside of me and finding out what we are having!
2- Halloween tomorrow, Brady is so excited.
3- My cousin said, seeing her dad again and I can't wait to see him again too! He is in heaven and doing the Lord's work.
4- Bec and Howard getting married, I just wish I could be there, finally my sister found a great guy!
5- Bryce to come home and know that he is safe and one day closer to the weekend together.

5 Things that I love about Fall

1- PUMPKIN!! mmm... I love pumpkin foods, stealing my cousins answer again! I am trying a new pumpkin cookie recipe today, I will let you know, but it isn't very healthy, sorry to my healthy friends and family.
2- When the leaves change, too bad they don't change too much here.
3- Turning off my A/C
4- Cuddling
5- Love going back to the Y, too bad I am too old for that now!

5 Things on my wish list

1- A happy healthy baby.
2- Bryce to be happy at work.
3- A big fat raise!
4- My children to be sweet and kind.
5- To see my children and the rest of my family all together in the temple, someday!

5 Things important to me

1- My husband
2- My family
3- My Savior Jesus Christ
4- The girls in my Young Women's
5- Making good choices as a mother allowing my children to make good choices throughout their lives.

5 People I tag

I am going to tag anyone who would like to participate.

Healthy Sugar Cookies

I mentioned posting these cookies in one of my other posts and I really feel like I need to share. They are very good and healthy for you at the same time. We made them the night we painted pumpkins. These are from my friend Emily.

I actually added some food coloring to make them orange, I don't believe that makes them any less healthy. Then I rolled them out and cut them into pumpkins and cats for the kids. Once they were cut then I sprinkled the top with the cinnamon/pure cane sugar mix and the kids loved them! Such a benefit, because then you don't feel guilty about giving them a treat! Thanks Emily!

Simple Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup ground soft white wheat flour
1/2 cup pure cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
7 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon real maple syrup
1 egg replacer
cinnamon and cane sugar for coating

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients in measuring cup (make sure they're blended well). Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Using hands, form dough into a big ball. (If it sticks together well, then its the right consistency. If not, then add a bit of water and mix it well.)

Form dough into cookie sized balls and roll into cinnamon/ cane sugar mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball a little bit. Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes.

And if you want to make cookie cutter type cookies...don't try to transfer them from one pan to the next...just in case you were thinking you might! They make about two full sheets of cookies, perfect for our little family but not quite enough if you want to share!

Good Luck

A little outing and Halloween

Last Saturday we took a trip to Las Vegas to go refrigerator shopping. Our defroster has been going out and after defrosting it and it not completely fixing the problem, we decided it was time to replace the old one. We moved the fridge to the other side of our kitchen allowing us to get one with water and ice, yeah! Bryce will add the water line tomorrow and then we should be in business.

In between fridge shopping we decided to check out a local farm, (thanks Courtney for the idea). It was really windy and kind of chilly for our warmed up bodies from surviving the summer but it sure is nice to get outside and spend time together as a family.
We happened to buy some jack-o-lantern buckets before we went to get ready for Halloween and Brady thought it would be a good bucket for all of his vegetables.

We found some small pumpkins which we will paint for Family Home Evening tomorrow. They had some red and green tomatoes, a giant zucchini for only 35cents, no matter the weight. I wish I would have gotten more! Next time. There was more then that but that is what we came away with. They also make their own apple juice and I wish that I would have gotten a few more gallons of it, yum!
It was fun and we will have to keep up the tradition and check it out more often.

Since I never posted the previous post I thought I would add our Family Home Evening from last week. Very cute, the kids had so much fun painting their pumpkins and we made a really good healthy sugar cookie recipe that I hopefully will post at a later date. It is of course from my healthy friend Emily and most of her recipes are so yummy!

Leilani working so intently!

He's got the face on.

Ta dah!!!

Brady's pumpkin when he was finished.

Last day of summer, maybe?

This last week has been crazy. It started off very warm and then we ended the week being the 60s, which is normal for most but not here. It was about a 20 degree drop overnight and I am not complaining. Before the cold front hit, we got some good outside time in the sun. The kids played in the puddle, from the sprinklers, on the back porch and they sure had fun!

By the end of our playtime, Leilani was so tired. I took a video of her eating her lunch but I think it is too big to upload. It was really cute. She was eating with her hands, trying to eat as much as she could before falling asleep. She would grab a handful at a time and then close her eyes to eat. I wish I could share, oh well.

Tag!

I was tagged by my aunt Glenda. It has taken me awhile to get to it, since we just got back from a little vacation. So here goes . . .

4 things I am passionate about:
My Family
The Gospel
Trying to be better
Teaching my children to be kind and sweet

4 books I've read & enjoyed:
The Twilight Series
The Notebook
Jane Eyre
Harry Potter

4 words/phrases I say often:
That is not your business
Are you kidding me?
Where does this go. . . . ?
Come on kidlets

4 things I want to do before I die:
See my children grow up and have children.
Go back to England and see where my family is from.
Go on a mission with Bryce.
Travel the world.

4 things I've learned over the past:
You forgive and forgive even if the same thing happens again.
Just keep trying and never give up.
Patience really is a virtue.
Things happen in Heavenly Father's time, not ours.

4 places I want to see:
Ireland
Isles of Greece
All of the islands of Hawaii
Russia

4 things I currently want/need:
sleep
another vacation
Somebody to go shopping for me in this heat!
I need a pool to cool off in.

I tag: Tree, Mindy, Rorie, Emily, Cory, Melissa and anybody else who wants to participate!

Happy Birthday Auntie!

Today is my sister Tree's birthday. We are far away and wanted to wish her lots off birthday wishes. We miss you and are so glad that we saw you only a month ago. We hope to see you soon.



Here is Leilani singing "Happy Birthday" to her auntie Gijah! I think it is adorable, so I had to share this with everyone.

Much love sistah! We love you tons!!!

Am I crazy?

I probably am crazy and I have always known this about myself. This morning I started a new adventure, cloth diapers!

My wonderful sister-in-law has been doing cloth for awhile and my oldest sister used them for her oldest child, so I thought I can do this if they can do it.

It has taken me awhile to get it all together, thanks to the help of Courtney. I have it all and I put Leilani in one this morning and have already changed her. I know I will be changing more but it sure beats the price of diapers these days, especially with another baby on the way.

When Courtney talked about cloth I thought she was crazy but now I guess we are together.

They seem pretty easy to do, I just have to do more laundry. Drying them isn't bad, especially where we live!

We are trying to watch our expenses and this should help a lot. I also love the idea of helping the environment, at least a little.

Crazy in the desert!
Maybe the heat is getting to me???

Brady's tag

Brady was tagged by his friend Myra and here are his answers. He was very excited to do this, but didn't quite understand how it worked until we were done. There are some interesting answers, but remember he is only 3! Enjoy!

1. What is something mom always says to you? Put your dishes in the sink.

2. What makes mom happy? Playing trains.

3. What makes mom sad? When you don't clean up.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickles.

5. What was your mom like as a child? Me, Brady.

6. How old is your mom? 1 year old.

7. How tall is your mom? Fifty taller.

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Play games, playing tag with my mom. (This tag). Going to the store.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Clean up the floor.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Tag.

11. What is your mom really good at? Funny.

12. What is your mom not very good at? Turning the tv on.

13. What does your mom do for her job? Take care of me and baby Lani.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Ice cream.

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When I get to play outside and when she brings down the Play Doh from my closet.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Wonder Red from Super Why.

17. What do you and your mom do together? Play instruments.

18. How are you and your mom the same? Taller.

19. How are you and your mom different? I am a boy and mommy is a girl. I get to be a daddy when I get bigger.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Play games and wipe your boogies.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? When he goes to work.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? The airport to pick up daddy.

Brady tags: Samuel, Jacob, Afton, Bryn, Cody, Keola, Analei and anybody else who wants to play.

More Birthdays!

Happy Birthday Becca! I love this picture and use it often as you know, but I think you are so cute! I hope that you have a great day and know that we are thinking of you and love you so much. You are such an amazing person and sister and I am glad to have you in my life to show me how I should be. I love you!!! Give my love to your darling family and I hope to see you sometime!

Happy Birthday to Jessalyn too. She is the big 9! We miss you and wish we could see you more, hopefully we will see you soon!

Happy Birthday to Kristen, yesterday. You are finally the big 3-0, welcome to the club! We were out and about yesterday but we remembered. I hope you had a great day.

Love to you all and wish we were there to celebrate the big day.

Suds 101

A little lesson to be learned about the dishwasher. I asked my neice Keola to finish up the dishes and start the dishwasher. She asked me where the soap was and I told her under the sink. I didn't think anything about it until Brady comes up to me, "Um, mommy? There is something spilling in the kitchen."

I immediately ran to the kitchen and saw my dishwasher spitting soap suds out. It was so funny to me because the same thing happened to some roommates of mine in college and I knew exactly what she had done. She used the wrong soap, the "dish soap" instead of the "dishwashing detergent."

Poor Keo! I had to let the dishwasher run its cycle and she had to stand there and clean it up. I felt bad for her, but now she knows the basics of suds 101! My floor was nice and shiny when she was done!

I love you Keo and will miss you, your sister and mom greatly! Thanks for visiting!

32-9!

Happy Belated Birthday! So I have been slacking a little on my blog. . . I have heard it from various sources, "Are you going to post again?"

Here I am. I uploaded over 200 pictures off of my camera from the past month so I am sure that I have plenty to share. I have felt a little overwhelmed with my calling, been out of town and haven't felt the greatest with the heat and being pregnant.

I made a cake for Bryce and my neice Analei for their birthdays. Ana's was on the 3rd of the month and Bryce's was on the 13th. Neither of them received a cake on their birthday. They turned 329, Bryce 32 and Ana 9. I should have done 932 but I didn't want it to look too old!

I love this picture of Lani enjoying her cake, since we rarely have treats like that and she loved digging in, a lot better then she did with her birthday!

Tag You're It!

20 years ago . . .

1- I was living in Port Angeles, WA.
2- I met my best friend Jenni Perry.
3- I ruled the school as a 5th grader!

10 years ago . . .

1- I was enjoying the last moments with my favorite uncle, while he was sick with cancer.
2- I just played because I didn't have any major responsibilities!
3- I was planning my future, internship in DC, send in mission papers, come home and finish school and then maybe get married! HA! Then I met Bryce and plans changed!

5 years ago . . .

1- Bryce was finally graduating from the Y!!!
2- We moved to live in the desert, are we crazy????
3- I had to leave my best friend in Provo, that was sad!

1 year ago . . .

1- I was figuring out how to take are of 2 kids instead of just 1.
2- I was cherishing my new baby and loving her to death.
3- Enjoying traveling with my two kids and loved visiting family!

So far this year . . .

1- I turned 30!
2- I am my wards Young Women's president!
3- Potty trained my 3 year old!

Yesterday I . . .

1- I sat in my hot house trying to get the AC working.
2- I attempted whole wheat cinnamon rolls which is an oxy moron when I think about the horribly unhealthy filling and frosting, but the bread was healthy!
3- I played Bunko with my friends and my kids had fun playing with other kids.

Today I . . .

1- Relished in my cool house, the AC is working, for now!
2- Watched Brady swim and love it!
3- Loved watching Leilani practice her back strokes from her stroller while she watched Brady swim!

Tomorrow I . . .

1- Will watch Brady swim again.
2- Will attempt driving the car, again. I am getting better with this 5-speed thing!
3- Am counting down for the weekend, time with my family.

Tag anyone who wants to participate but Tree you don't have a choice, jk!

My Flavor

I got this link from Bryce's aunt and I thought it was fun. A nice way to think about cooling off in this weather! I didn't think I would be vanilla, but it actually fits my personality.
I figured I would include an adorable picture of Leilani enjoying an ice cream sandwich.

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Our Little Swimmer

Brady with his teacher, Bryan, who is actually in our ward! What luck!



Brady not quite ready for the diving board, but we are making progress!

Lani just hanging out while brother gets to swim! She wants in so bad it is hard to her to watch, but I keep her pretty preoccupied.

Brady just finished 2 weeks of swim lessons. He is coming along but isn't as comfortable on his back as his teachers would like him to be, so we are taking a break this next week and are signed up for another 2 week session.

I am so pleased to see him getting more comfortable in the water. His fears get the best of him sometime so it is good to see him use the kickboard on his own and love the life-jackets.

Today he was in the deep end just swimming wherever with the only blue life-jacket (his favorite color) on and just spinning away. He has the basics of swimming down but the floating thing is something he isn't quite comfortable with that yet, so hopefully his next session will help.

Hopefully it will cool off some in a week. Today at 9:30 in the morning it was already 101! Are you crazy! Not quite as hot as 115 that it was on Monday.

I keep telling myself that we just have to survive two months in the summer and then we have the best weather the rest of the year. We are almost through the worst of it, maybe!!!

We Stand for Truth and Righteousness

It has been awhile since I posted anything and partly because I have had a lot on my mind. I was called to be my ward's Young Women President! Yikes!

It has been a crazy week since the call and lots of thought and prayer trying to get all of my leaders called. We were all set for today and were sustained and set apart.

It was a good day and I am excited for this new calling. I am overwhelmed but I know that I will have a lot of fun with the girls and my leaders are amazing, so that will be helpful.

My mom and dad were able to come down so that was nice to have them here for the support.

Mom made our traditional Keller dinner, so that was great. They stayed for awhile and it is always nice to have them come visit. Life is going to get crazy so I know that it will be some time before I will be able to get up there to visit them.

Brady starts swim lessons tomorrow and that will be exciting and then in 2 weeks I have a youth temple trip!

There isn't a lot of time to get used to the calling so jump right in and I hope you can swim!

Maybe I should take swim lessons with Brady???

Fun in the sun

Leilani so proud of her knew skill of climbing.

Brady chillin' after his fun in the sun.

Hand in hand while Brady shows Lani the ropes, what a good brother!

Brady enjoying his sprinkler.

Lovin' the water together.

Today we took the time to go and check out our new "water park." This is a first for our little valley and although it isn't that big it is so nice to have somewhere the kids can play and cool off. It was so much fun.

Brady helped me pack our lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grapes and crackers with lots of drinkage to keep us cool. I sunscreened them up and off we went.

Leilani took some coaxing but once she was comfortable that is all that it took. She didn't care if it sprayed her in the face and is turning into my little water baby. It was difficult to get her to eat her lunch, because she just wanted to get wet and run around.

I even got a little wet and had a ton of fun with my kids. I hope to add this to our weekly routine. It is free, gets us out of the house and keeps us cooled off on those hot summer days, which are fast approaching.